Massachusetts schools prepare for influx of Puerto Rican students

THE ISSUE: Weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, large numbers of families may flee the island for the mainland United States.

LOCAL IMPACT: Massachusetts, home to the fifth largest Puerto Rican population of any state, is preparing to accommodate an influx of Puerto Rican migrants, including students.

Gerry Tuoti Wicked Local Newsbank Editor

Anticipating a potential wave of families leaving the hurricane-ravaged island of Puerto Rico, schools and community organizations in Massachusetts are preparing to accommodate an influx of migrants.

“The numbers are still not clear, primarily because people have had a lot of difficulty getting in or out of the island,” said Vanessa Calderon-Rosado, co-chairwoman of the Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico Fund and CEO of the Boston-based service and advocacy organization Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion. “The influx has been very slow, but I think there will be an uptick in the numbers now that flying out of the island is starting to become a little more regular.”

Weeks after Hurricane Maria caused massive destruction in Puerto Rico, many of the people living on the U.S. island territory do not have electricity or access to clean drinking water.

“I think we’re going to have to think about how Massachusetts is able to respond to a higher influx of families who have either small children or elders that they’re trying to take care of here,” said Rosalyn Negron, an anthropology professor at UMass Boston. “I think it’s not too soon to think about them, but it is too soon in the sense that we don’t know yet who’s coming. I think it is realistic to expect there could be a lot of people coming.”

With the fifth-largest Puerto Rican population of any state, Massachusetts could see a surge if Puerto Ricans leave the island to stay with family or friends living here. That trend has already started to emerge in parts of Western Massachusetts, where cities such as Springfield and Holyoke are home to some of the state’s largest Puerto Rican populations.

“As with a lot of migration, family connections drive the decision to migrate and where to settle,” said Negron.

Since Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, they don’t encounter the same bureaucratic barriers as foreign nationals relocating to the mainland United States. The process is similar to moving from one state to another.

Accommodating students

In late September, days after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued a guidance to school district leaders alerting them to the possibility that large numbers of Puerto Rican students could relocate to their communities.

“One of the things that’s clear is we are expecting there may be kids coming who don’t have much in the way of records to show who they are, how old they are or what grade they’re in,” said Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents. “The law is clear that we have to do our best to make sure we welcome them, have them enrolled and figure out with the family and the child what the appropriate program should be.”

Under the federal McKinney-Vento Act, which requires school districts to accommodate homeless children, children are considered homeless if they are staying at a relative or friend’s home after losing their own housing.

The law states students who have lost their housing must be immediately enrolled in school, even if they do not have documentation verifying their age or academic grade. Schools are not allowed to keep homeless children out of school due to a lack of academic records, medical or immunization records, a birth certificate or guardianship records.

The DESE’s guidance to schools recommends educators and school officials move quickly to connect homeless students with appropriate services and access to free meals.

Fabian Torres-Ardila, associate director of the Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy at UMass Boston said language barriers could also present challenges at schools. Schools experiencing a sudden spike in Spanish-speaking students may need to add resources to their English language learner programs, he said.

“I don’t know if schools have the infrastructure to provide all services they need,” Torres-Ardila said.

A need for services

The Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico Fund recently announced it has raised more than $1.3 million in donations. The money is intended to pay for relief efforts in Puerto Rico and support Puerto Rican families who relocate to Massachusetts as a result of the hurricane.

For families relocating to Massachusetts, access to housing, medical care and education will be the most pressing needs, Calderon-Rosado said.

“Many Puerto Ricans in the diaspora have been reaching out to us,” Calderon-Rosado said. “Families who have already moved here are contacting us… I think housing is going to be the biggest need, because we have such a shortage of affordable housing.”